GILBERT: State ready to implement Common Core — finally!

Now that the silliness has stopped and the opposition has been overcome, Michigan school officials can proceed to implement the new Common Core State Standards.

To be sure, parents deserve a factual explanation, but failure for the United States to insist on minimum standards that students need to achieve would simply continue to leave our children behind other industrialized countries that do insist on better achievement.

Do we want our young people to be competitive in the global economy or not? The question is that simple.

Just over a month ago, the state House of Representatives allowed the Michigan Department of Education to resume funding and implementation of the Common Core. The department’s work on Common Core had been on hold due to a legislative vote earlier this year that put a pause on spending on CCSS.

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“The standards, with aligned assessments, are one of the most critically important foundations for raising student achievement for states today,” said Amber Arellano, executive director for the Royal Oak-based, non-partisan research, information and advocacy center, the Education Trust-Midwest.

“By providing opportunities for deeper instruction, improved professional development for teachers and more helpful feedback for both educators and students, the standards have the potential to really advance education in our state,” Arellano added. “We need to make sure now we take the next steps on this journey toward educational improvement, and implement an aligned CCSS assessment; invest in teacher training; and give teachers feedback and support to make sure they can teach this new approach.”

Arellano describes the Common Core approach as emphasizing analytical, deep and critical thinking skills as opposed to rote memorization and regurgitation. It is basically the difference between an old economy system and one with a global outlook, she said. The standards were created by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers to improve academic achievement and increase accountability.

The United States is behind many European and Asian countries in terms of educational achievement. The World Economic Forum ranks the United States 52nd in the quality of mathematics and science education, and fifth — and declining — in overall global competitiveness. The United States ranks 27th in developed nations in the proportion of college students receiving undergraduate degrees in science or engineering.

A report released in June by the Council on Foreign Relations warned that America’s global competitiveness is at risk because of a widening achievement gap between rich and poor, according to a Reuters report.

Tea Party Republicans held up funding in Michigan, and have targeted CCSS for criticism nationally as well.

“What we do not support is a national or federalized curriculum,” Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said in a recent prepared statement. “We need Louisiana standards, not Washington, D.C., standards.”

But Louisiana ranked 49th in the country in education, according to a study released by the American Legislative Exchange Council. Clearly the state needs something, and is dragging down the country’s overall competitiveness.

Jindal’s remarks reflect a fallacy — that Common Core is a curriculum. It is not. States must develop their own curricula and tests to implement the standards.

There are critics of Common Core on the left as well, because CCSS applies only to math and science. Liberals fear a diminished emphasis on the humanities and social sciences as a result.

“Conservatives hate anything with the word ‘national’ in it, and liberals hate anything with the word ‘test,’ ” said Chester Finn, a former assistant secretary of education under President Reagan and a darling among conservatives — until he embraced CCSS, that is.

Arellano said Michigan “is a little bit behind” in terms of implementing CCSS. That’s putting it politely. States like Kentucky, Tennessee and Maryland are way ahead of us in teacher training, for instance.

Using a company called Smarter Balanced, Michigan will provide tests given at the end of the school year for grades 3-8 and grade 11 in English language arts and math. It will also have interim assessments available for grades 3-11.

When fully implemented, schools will be able to tell parents how their children would be on pace to fare on the ACT college-readiness exam as early as second grade. Who can oppose that?

As is the case with so many issues, the truth on CCSS is somewhere between the extremes of left and right politicalspeak. Common Core has nothing to do with ideology and everything to do with competitiveness..

Glenn Gilbert is executive editor of The Oakland Press. Contact him at glenn.gilbert@oakpress.com or 248-745-4587. Follow him on Twitter @glenngilbert2. View his blog at glenngilbert2.blogspot.com